Luke 9:18–27
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
Who do say that I am?
I had a conversation with a Jewish friend the other day. I have known her and her family since we were both children, our families are close enough friends that we had attended her brother’s bar mitzvah decades ago. I hadn’t seen her in a long time and it was great to catch up.
After a day of reminiscing, as I was about to get into my car to head home, she asked, “Why don’t we Jews believe Jesus is the Messiah?” That question led to a half-hour conversation as we walked her through the Hebrew Scriptures that very clearly point to Jesus as the promised One.
Little did my friend realize that she had asked what is perhaps the most important question of all time. Jesus Himself asked it in Luke 9:18: Who do the crowds say I am? All eternity hangs on how we answer that question.
As in Jesus’ day, it seems everyone in our day has an answer to that question. His disciples had their ear to the ground as they mingled with the large crowds that were thronging to Jesus at that time. They overheard the conversations taking place as people were coming to terms with this unusual teacher, this authoritative rabbi (Matthew 7:29).
But the disciples had a different relationship with Jesus than those among the throng. They traveled with him, ate with him, bunked down with him. They were part of many casual, intimate conversations, and were slowly beginning to understand that the One they had decided to follow was unique.
As Jesus’ time with them was drawing to an end—he knew that, but they didn’t—he brought them to the most pagan place in all of Israel. Luke doesn’t mention the location, but Matthew and Mark do. They tell us it was Caesarea Philippi. There were two temples there—one to the Greek God Pan, and a Roman Temple where Caesar was worshipped. The gaping cave in the cliff, known as the Gates of Hades, was the site of perverse sexual practices each spring, designed to bring the god Pan from his winter hibernation in order to guarantee productive summer crops. The cliff itself was notched with niches (they are still there today) that contained the stone idols of this god, Pan. No observant Jew would go near this unholy place.
But Jesus took his followers there, and it was there, in that most spiritually dark place, that Jesus asked the question of questions: Who do people say that I am? He asks this same question into our world today. But a general question is not enough. Jesus forms a second question—a much more direct and personal question. “Who do YOU say that I am?”
After following him for many months, no doubt having had their own conversations about who their rabbi was, the time for waffling was over. There wasn’t much time left. The question had to be asked, and the answer had to be given.
It shouldn’t surprise us that Peter would give the answer—he seemed to be the most impulsive and talkative of the disciples. He does get the answer right. “You are God’s Messiah.” Matthew, who was there amongst the dead stone Pan idols, gives us a longer Peter quote. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). Not the dead god Pan, but the true and living God.
The question was out, and the answer given. This wasn’t a multiple-choice test and there is only one answer. Peter’s response was correct, and Jesus was satisfied. It would be upon that statement of truth that Jesus would build his Church (Matthew 16:18). Paul would put it this way, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9).
Jesus goes on to tell them that it wasn’t yet time to tell the world who he was (Luke 9:21). There was still much for them to experience—some of the most impactful moments in their lives with Jesus were to come, including the Cross. The day would come when they would proclaim to the world that Jesus was the Promised One, but first there lay the cross, and then the empty tomb. And Pentecost. This proclamation would only change lives, and transform the world, Jesus knew, when proclaimed by those whom the Holy Spirit filled.
It was only by the filling of the Holy Spirit that these frail human beings would be willing to lay their lives down. Peter would learn that the hard way on the night that Jesus was betrayed (Luke 22:61-62). The disciple who made the bold proclamation at Caesarea Philippi, of Jesus being the Promised One, would not make that same proclamation around a Jerusalem courtyard fire.
That would all change on Pentecost. There, filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, the ashamed, restored, empowered apostle would proclaim boldly that Jesus was the Messiah, and 3000 lives would be transformed.
This is the lesson in our text today—Jesus, the crucified and resurrected Messiah, Saviour, Redeemer, proclaimed from the mouth of a Spirit-filled proclaimer, will transform hearts, and change the eternal destiny of all who will respond to that message. It has ever been so, and will be until he returns.
This direct tie between the Spirit-filled life and mission has always been our motivation in the Alliance. Nowhere is that more clearly seen than in what began with Peter’s proclamation at Caesarea Philippi.
Next would come the Mount of Transfiguration, and Jesus’ promise at the end of our text for today would come true for some—Peter, James and John—who would experience the Kingdom of God Jesus in all his glory.
Oh, how we long for that day. But until then, may the Spirit of God fill our lives so that the proclamation of Jesus the Messiah, from our lips, will go forth with transformational power, until he comes.
Pray:
• Pray for a fresh vision of Jesus, the Messiah, King of kings
• Pray for opportunities to share him with people whose hearts have been prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive the Good News
• Pray for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit in order to clearly proclaim the Messiah Jesus
• Pray for the soon return of Jesus
Author Bio
Bob Beasley is the Senior Vice President of
Bible League Canada. He lives in the tiny village of Pain Court, in Chatham-Kent Ontario. He has been married to Wendy for many decades and is the father of three happily married sons and seven grandchildren.
Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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